11/15/2013 ESA Meeting Minutes

By
Justin Van Wormer
 – December 2, 2013
  1. Announce Job Talks for prospective African American lit and Victorian lit hires.  Encourage student feedback.
  2. 2007 Self Study of the Program
    1. We have been asked to review the 2007 Self Study as a program
    2. Acting EO Carrie Hintz has been working with ESA Co-Chairs to develop panels to encourage students and faculty to stake out their vision for the program going forward.
    3. Students responded with concerns about the impact and efficacy of the panels to actually chart a direction for the program.  The question of what is really under the Programs control was raised and discussed.  In response the value of articulating positions and goals internally
  3. The ESA discussed creating Academic Commons profiles for students on an opt-out basis
    1. The value of these profiles as a recruiting and organizing tool for current and future students and applicants was discussed
    2. The ESA voted to create a tip-sheet for potential students including materials to encourage and assist with successful applications.
    3. The ESA discussed the value of creating workshops on creating and maintaining an outward focussed academic web presence for students
  4. Hiring News
    1. Cathy Davidson’s hiring was discussed as going forward, also discussed was her primary role as an administrator
    2. Feisal G. Mohammed will be coming for a February 21st job talk.
    3. Victorian hires are going forward
    4. The potential hire of Eric Lott was discussed briefly.
  5. By-Laws
    1. The need to update by-laws was discussed
    2. Each ESA committee ought to be in control of defining their own mission and the way the by-laws reflect that mission
    3. The ESA, in an attempt to bolster a sense of institutional continuity within the student body, ought to be in communication with previous committee members.
      1. The ideas of staggering the election schedule to have previous office holders help new ones, and to reschedule elections so that they happen at the end of the fall rather than spring semesters, were proposed to help create more student input, preserve participatory momentum, and increase ESA continuity.
    4. The ESA set a deadline of the first spring semester meeting for committees to have an action plan for by-law changes
  6. GTF Advocacy
    1. Sean Kennedy brought up concerns about GTF treatment (both mistreatment and inconsistent treatment from campus to campus).
      1. Data collection and organization of past and present GTFs is suggested to better identify specific problems.
    2. Different treatment from campus to campus and among and between GTFs and adjuncts is identified as a problem
      1. Suggested solutions include talking to GC faculty associated with individual campuses for insights into departmental organization and getting resources from the GC to organize GTFs around shared interests as GC members and contingent faculty.
    3. This highlights the need for a Teaching Committee at the program level and in the ESA
  7. Conference Funding
    1. Non-Oedipal Doll Making and William S. Burroughs conference funding is discussed, but the request must also go to DSC with a program and a rationale for funding.
  8. Revels
    1. themes were discussed, and volunteers requested.